The marketing department will need to communicate internally with all other departments when looking to boost sales by either improving existing products or introducing a new one. The marketing department will have all the relevant research that will enable NEXT to improve; this research may be presented in power point presentations. Or, it can be talked about face to face with the production and finance mangers at meetings.
Power-point presentation at meeting are a good way of communicating because it is a form of visual communication so many people will understand the information better and the message will be given across more clearly.
Another good reason for using power point presentations is that all ideas can be communicated to several people at once. This is because these presentations can be seen at meeting or sent to several departments by E-mail.
However, putting together a power point presentation can be time consuming depending on how much information has to be given in the presentation.
Also, graphs showing results from surveys and questionnaires taken by customers can be sent to all departments via e-mail.
The Finance department can present data in figures; charts etc and communicate them also through power point presentations. This is a good method to use as the employees will get a clearer image of the information then if they were just told about it. Also, all employees will be able to see the information at the same time.
In addition to this, a method of communication that is extremely popular now due to the developments in technology is Electronic Mail (E-mail).
This form of communication is also used by all departments within NEXT. For example: The retail manager could contact the individual store mangers by e-mail to inform them of promotions within the store, for example: Buy one get one free on children’s clothing. It is important that the manger communicates with the staff in some way to ensure that they are aware of the promotion and thus are able to prepare the store i.e. hang up posters etc that will inform the customers that the clothing is on special offer.
I think E-mail is the best method to use for this because it is very efficient. There are many NEXT stores across the country and because they will all need to know about the promotion. E-mail is the most suitable as it allows the information to only be written once but sent to many stores at the same time. Also, e-mails are received within minutes of being written so the message can be given very quickly.
Retail staff will also need internal communication to contact head office. For example: if there is a complaint from a customer about faulty goods, then the retail department will have to contact human resources by e-mail, notifying them of the problem. They may decide to use e-mail for this particular scenario because it can go directly to the human resource manager incase he is not available by telephone. Also, it is time efficient as they will not have to talk to several people on the phone before contacting the manger at head office.
Human Resources are responsible for recruitment, For example: if there is a job opening for manager .This team have to ensure that employees know about the job opportunity, in case they want to apply for it. To get this message across, HR can send an e-mail to all employees or they can put notices up on the business’ intranet.
The advantage of putting the notice up on the intranet is that employees of NEXT are only able to access the information so it is more secure than distributing newsletters as this can be seen by people outside the business.
Moreover, The Human Resource department is responsible for the health and safety of all staff therefore, it is important that they are able to communicate with all departments. For example: if there is going to be a fire drill to assess whether health and safety regulations are being followed, it is important that employees are aware. Therefore, they will be informed in advance by E-mail. This is a good method of communicating for this particular case as the same information is going to be sent to all employees that receive the e-mail. Also, as this is very important information; the HR department may not use the telephone as the message may be misinterpreted.
Finance may also send e-mails to other employees such as the production manager to communicate with them to tell them if they have enough money to continue producing goods on the scale that they are currently doing, or if changes need to be made. This is a good method of communication because it will go directly to the manger of the production department and it may be quicker then arranging a meeting.
I think E-mails are a very good method of communication because they enable messages to be received very quickly. Therefore, fewer problems are likely to occur as messages are less likely to be delayed. Also, E-mail is a secure form of communication because the person that the E-mail is sent to is the only one that can receive it, so if messages are private i.e. between managers then they will sue E-mails to contact each other.
I think the retail manager could also use fax for this particular example as the details will be put on paper so it will be easier to follow than having to explain over the phone. Also, as it is a fax the store manger is able to make photocopies and distribute them to employees within the store so they know the exact nature of the promotion
Also, if the HR department want to ensure all employees are aware of health and safety regulations they can put notices in a newsletter containing information that will inform employees about the health and safety at NEXT.
I think a newsletter is a good form of communication because the information only has to be written once but can be photocopied. The good thing about newsletters is that all employees will receive one so they will all be treated equally as they will all be given the same information. This is good because there is less chance of any employee not being given the information as there will be many newsletters around each department.
They have to make sure all departments are working well together so the business as a whole can give an excellent customer service. They can communicate with other department with the use of I.T. For example: if they wanted to get messages across to all employees of the business they could put it up on the business’ intranet. They could also communicate with other departments by sending e-mails as this is a quick method of sending the same information to many different departments at the same time.
Finance needs to hold meetings to discuss solutions to help stores that are dealing with short term problems. A meeting is the best way of communicating for this because everyone at the meeting is able to see information on sales figures (through balance sheets, profit & loss accounts etc). Therefore, they are able to see how big the problem is and discuss what can be done to help.
Meetings will also be held to discuss the targets for the day. A form of commutation that is linked to the meeting is an Agenda. This informs the employees what the meeting is going to be about. An agenda can be sent in the post or distributed to managers by hand.
I think a meeting is a very good form of communication as it enables all employees to present and discuss ideas at the same time so it will be less time consuming then sending e-mails to each individual and waiting for a reply.
However, if an employee is unable to attend a meeting because they are at another one, the issues raised at the meeting will be communicated to this employee. The minutes will show employees what was raised at the meeting. This is good because although they weren’t at the meeting they will still know what was discussed.
Furthermore, if all the mangers of NEXT stores have to attend an annual meeting but one of the mangers at a store abroad is unable to attend, he can still communicate with those at the meeting, via video link. As this meeting is very important it is essential that all mangers are present because every manager’s input is significant. This is because this particular manager that is unable to attend may have an issue that he needs to discuss and he will still able to do this via a web cam.
I think video conferencing is a good method to use because associates of the business in different parts of the world are still able to communicate with each other. Also, this enables people to have a verbal conversation at the same as being able to see each other. This method of communication is very effective as it is almost as if the people are face to face. Thus, they can see images and are able to discuss them at the same time.
Furthermore, a form of communication that can be used for less important events can be notices on the notice board. For example: if NEXT were collecting money for charity and were having a dress up day in store, the manager may put a notice on the notice board in the staff room. This is because, all employees at NEXT store will enter the staff room at some point and therefore will be informed of the charity day.
External Communication
Department at NEXT have to communicate with each other internally but to be as efficient as possible it is important that they arte able to communicate successfully with external organisations/departments.
The methods that they will use to communicate externally are:
- Telephone]
- E-mail]
- Internet (NEXT websites)
- Business Letter
- Fax]
- Face to Face
- Video Conferencing
- Media i.e. newspaper, radio etc
Again, a very regular form of communication to use to contact any person is the telephone. This method is used widely when communicating with external organisations.
The production team will need to communicate with their suppliers when ordering stock. The method they could use to do this is by sending an e-mail. This is a good method to use because it will go directly to the suppliers and it is very efficient.
For example: in the winter when there is a high demand for clothing such as fashionable jumpers and NEXT keep running out. The production department will need to contact their supplier using an E-mail to order a larger quantity.
I think E-mail is a good method to use because as NEXT will need the jumpers immediately so they don’t lose customers they will have to contact their suppliers very quickly. The E-mail allows them to do this because it will be received by the supplier within moments of being sent. Also, as it is an E-mail there will be a greater chance of NEXT receiving the goods because the supplier will be able to print the E-mail off, so they are more likely to send the delivery.
The Human Resource department will also use E-mail as their main method of communicating. For example: if there is a job opening for sales assistant at NEXT, the HR department may E-mail advertising bureaus, informing them of the opening and with all the details. This is a good method of communicating for this particular scenario, because as it is sent by e-mail the adverting bureaus are able to copy the details of the job and upload it onto their website immediately.
The customer service department will use E-mail for their customers to contact them and vice versa. For example: if a buyer was looking on the NEXT website and wanted to leave feedback, they could contact customer service using e-mail. In the e-mail they could leave comments about what they think of NEXT and its staff or ask questions. The customer service department can then reply to the customer by E-mail to answer their questions or thank them for their comments.
It is important that they are able to communicate by E-mail to their customers because they will get their reply quickly and it isn’t costly for them to E-mail as it would be to phone.
The retail function can communicate with head office via telephone when receiving information about promotions or sales, for example: when the winter sale is coming up they are able to discuss when to begin the sale.
The telephone will be used by departments at NEXT to contact their suppliers. For example: if the production team have ordered a certain type of jeans in bulk and from these they have noticed that there were problems with them; the zips were faulty, and so customers were returning them. NEXT would use the telephone to inform their supplier about the defect.
I think they will use the telephone because they can talk to a person directly therefore the matter will most likely to be sorted out over the phone as quick as possible because E-mail or letter it may take a while for a reply depending on when the supplier will check their mail.
Furthermore, if customers have queries or want more information about certain products, they could communicate with customer services by telephone. For example: as NEXT also sells electrical good they may offer an after sales service so customers are able to get help with products that they have purchased.
I think using the telephone to communicate with customers for this, is a good method as the customer is able to talk directly to an employee so it is more efficient than sending an e-mail and waiting for a reply. However, the problem with this may be that the customer may have to go through several departments before being able to talk to the person that will give them help. Therefore, they may get irritated with waiting and lose loyalty in NEXT.
Another method of communication that NEXT will use is Fax. The production department may use this method to communicate with suppliers. For example: if NEXT are ordering new stock they may send a purchase order by Fax to their supplier. This is because communicating by fax is more efficient then sending a letter and it is more reliable as there is not a chance of it being misplaced in the post. Therefore, I think it is a good idea to use fax as a form of communication as NEXT will be able to get their goods as soon as possible so they are able to offer customers the products that they want all the time.
Furthermore, to receive or send other financial documents such as invoices etc the department can use fax. This is a good way of sending/ receiving documents because it will go directly to the company as you don’t have to post them so it is time efficient
Fax can also be used as a form of communication by the Human Resource department. This is because they are responsible for recruiting new employees and thus they will have to find a way of informing people about the job opportunity. A way in which they will do this is by communicating with local newspapers via fax. For example: if there is a job opening for supervisor at NEXT the HR department may send an advert via fax to a newspaper so they are able to place an advert to attract applicants.
In addition to this, NEXT will communicate with others outside the business face to face, i.e. through meetings or conferences.
The Human resource department deal with disputes concerning employees. Therefore, it is important that they are able to communicate with external organisations. For example: if an employee involved a trade union because they felt they were being discriminated by NEXT. The HR department will have to communicate with the trade union face to face i.e. in a meeting.
I think this is the best method to use for this because it is more official than a telephone call therefore it will show that NEXT are willing take all complaints seriously and will do all they can to resolve the matter immediately.
NEXT can also hold conferences to meet with the public and communicate with them if they have any questions on how NEXT can benefit or affect the community. For example: a conference may be held with members of the local community when NEXT are looking to open a super-store in the area. This conference (face to face) will enable the community to ask questions about the new store i.e. how it will affect them etc and give their views on the idea.
I think a conference is the best method to use because it enables NEXT to have a verbal conversation with the community and therefore it will be a lot easier to get both parties views across at the same time.
The Marketing function at NEXT can also communicate with customers face to face. For example: when NEXT are looking to introduce a new garment, they may go out and ask customers questions related to that particular garment. By talking to the customer face to face they are getting primary information therefore it will be more useful and they can get as much information as they need because they will be able to ask customers to expand their answers.
The production team at NEXT will need external communication to get in touch with their designers when they are visiting fashion capitals around the world. A method they could use is video conferencing. This is a good method to use because they are able to talk directly to their designers about the latest trends in various places as well as being able to see them. This is because their designer will be able to focus the webcam on the new product so manager on the production team are able to see it at the same time as giving them information.
They may also use video conferencing for interviews. For example: if there is an opening for a job of high status e.g. manager. Then NEXT will be dedicated in finding the best possible candidate therefore, they may look in further places to find the most suitable applicant. For example: if they have a candidate that is applying form another country and it isn’t practical for them to fly to England for one interview, then NEXT may use video conferencing to communicate with the candidate and interview them in this way.
I think this is the most suitable method of communicating in this particular case because it enables NEXT to interview the candidate without them having to fly abroad. Also, as it allows the managers at NEXT to see the person that they are interviewing. This is very important during an interview because employers assess the person on appearance as well as their ability to talk fluently. And, so communicating via webcam enable them to do this.
Another method of communication that NEXT uses is business letters. They can be use by all functions within the business for different reasons. For example: if a customer felt that they were given a poor customer service and complained to NEXT. Then the business may send a written apology to the customer.
I think this is the best method to use because it shows the customers that NEXT are truly apologetic because it takes more effort for a written apology then a spoken one. And also a written apology is more formal so it will reflect that they are genuinely sorry for the upset they have caused to their customer
Moreover, NEXT will use business letters to communicate with their customers regarding payment. For example: if a customer has purchased goods using a NEXT store card and they have a certain amount of time to pay the money back NEXT may communicate with them using a business letter to remind them to make the repayment.
I think a business letter if a good form of communication because it enables both parties to keep a record. Also, as mail is delivered everyday it is more likely that the person will receive the letter. For example: if they were sent an E-mail the customer may not be able to have access to the internet for some days therefore they will not receive the information. Whereas, a letter would be delivered to them so they will be more likely to read it.
However, the bad thing about letters is that they may get misplaced in the post and the business may not be ware of it for quite a while and this could cause problems as messages may not be delivered on time.
